Who was L. Alexander?
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Re: Who was L. Alexander?
I have now watched a short film, "The Battak of Sumatra (1929)", (on Youtube) which doesn't feature anyone playing chess. Some of the captions contain words which might make some people faint with horror these days. The captions are rather critical of the dance style of the Battak, (starts about 10 minutes in) which I think is harsh - the Battak were obviously many years ahead of their time.
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Re: Who was L. Alexander?
The original image appears to be copyrighted.
A licence to use it on a blog will set you back at least £150!
A licence to use it on a blog will set you back at least £150!
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Re: Who was L. Alexander?
Many thanks for responding to my plea, Richard. Brian Denman also did so via email, so I must thank him too. Brian points out that the June BCM also referred to the match being played on 22 April, which was a Saturday and perhaps more likely to be the true date of the match.Richard James wrote: ↑Sun Nov 01, 2020 12:25 pmThe June 1944 issue published the L Alexander-Simonson and Hanauer-Mieses games, both annotated by Dr Aitken. Stockfish 12 is not very impressed with the annotations.John Saunders wrote: ↑Sun Nov 01, 2020 2:56 amBCM promised more annotated games from this match in the June 1944 issue but, infuriatingly, that issue is missing from my collection. Can anyone else oblige?
Technical issue: for some reason the images Richard has displayed in this thread are not appearing on my screen whereas the ones Gerard has inserted in his posts are fine. Nobody else has mentioned a problem so maybe it's just me having the problem. Any ideas? I'm accessing the forum via a Chrome browser on a laptop running Windows.
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Re: Who was L. Alexander?
They work for me in Microsoft Edge, my usual browser, but not in Google Chrome. I'll try something different.John Saunders wrote: ↑Sun Nov 01, 2020 2:56 am
Technical issue: for some reason the images Richard has displayed in this thread are not appearing on my screen whereas the ones Gerard has inserted in his posts are fine. Nobody else has mentioned a problem so maybe it's just me having the problem. Any ideas? I'm accessing the forum via a Chrome browser on a laptop running Windows.
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Re: Who was L. Alexander?
Ditto re the images in Richard's posts
Chrome on an Android phone FWIW
Chrome on an Android phone FWIW
Any postings on here represent my personal views
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Re: Who was L. Alexander?
Is it really, though? Copyright law is complex, so I don't know the answer. One source on US copyright law says that photographs published before 1976 are protected for 75 years, so this one would be out of copyright under that law. Another source on English copyright law says they are protected for 70 years after the death of the creator, so you'd have to know who took it and when they died to determine whether or not it was still in copyright.
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Re: Who was L. Alexander?
Thanks, Kevin. You could even have told me as I remember the same question (identity of the Alexander in Surrey's Alexander Cup) being answered a few years ago. Anyway, here's an acknowledgement ...Kevin Thurlow wrote: ↑Sat Oct 31, 2020 8:15 pm"Surrey's interclub cup competition is called the Alexander Cup and is presumably named after either L or FFL Alexander."
FFL, it's stated in "50 Years of Battersea Chess" (assuming I remembered the title correctly.) I did inform one of your Surrey colleagues a few years ago, but he never acknowledged receipt.
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Re: Who was L. Alexander?
"Thanks, Kevin. You could even have told me as I remember the same question (identity of the Alexander in Surrey's Alexander Cup) being answered a few years ago. Anyway, here's an acknowledgement ..."
Thanks! I might have told you briefly, but it was someone else that I told in detail...
Thanks! I might have told you briefly, but it was someone else that I told in detail...
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Re: Who was L. Alexander?
An impressive positional victory against a strong opponent, published, with annotations by Mieses, in the January 1944 BCM.
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Re: Who was L. Alexander?
An L. Alexander game from the Aitken score books (book 2) by coincidence I was entering
this game into PGN format on Saturday roughly about the same time Gerald started this thread.
I know this because after entering this game I showered, shaved, masked up and went to work.
(thinking why bother shaving if I'm wearing a mask?)
Alexander plays the Cochrane Gambit. Aitken adds a ! after white's 19th move.
L. Alexander - J. Aitken, Oxford, 21.10.1933 (1-0)
this game into PGN format on Saturday roughly about the same time Gerald started this thread.
I know this because after entering this game I showered, shaved, masked up and went to work.
(thinking why bother shaving if I'm wearing a mask?)
Alexander plays the Cochrane Gambit. Aitken adds a ! after white's 19th move.
L. Alexander - J. Aitken, Oxford, 21.10.1933 (1-0)
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Re: Who was L. Alexander?
I tried the Cochrane Gambit years ago, on a whim, and won a super game. I looked it up afterwards, learned that it lost by force and have been too frightened to play it since.
If you want a picture of the future, imagine a QR code stamped on a human face — forever.
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Re: Who was L. Alexander?
Is that so? I thought the theoretical consensus was "slightly dodgy, but playable".NickFaulks wrote: ↑Mon Nov 02, 2020 12:40 pmI tried the Cochrane Gambit years ago, on a whim, and won a super game. I looked it up afterwards, learned that it lost by force and have been too frightened to play it since.
Of course if Black knows what they are doing White shouldn't expect more than a draw. If.
"Set up your attacks so that when the fire is out, it isn't out!" (H N Pillsbury)
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Re: Who was L. Alexander?
Hi Nick and Matt,
First time I played as White I lost, but that me going sac-happy not the opening.
Returned to it a few times and won some nice games.
I worked out a good Black trap. Here
Black plays 5...d5!? It's playable. You tempt White into going for qucik kill with a Queen sac.
First time I played as White I lost, but that me going sac-happy not the opening.
Returned to it a few times and won some nice games.
I worked out a good Black trap. Here
Black plays 5...d5!? It's playable. You tempt White into going for qucik kill with a Queen sac.
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Re: Who was L. Alexander?
Entirely coincidentally, I was researching the Cochrane Gambit this morning.
Cochrane's 5. Bc4+ is certainly unsound. The main line 5. d4 and 5. Nc3, the modern engine choice as well as that of Laurie Alexander, are both slightly dodgy but worth a punt in blitz games.
Laurie Alexander, whoever he was (and I haven't got much further), was clearly a man ahead of his time.
On move 19, Stockfish 12 replaces Aitken's ! with a ?, claiming that 19... Qg5+ was winning for Black. He seemed to miss a lot of tactics in his annotations.
Cochrane's 5. Bc4+ is certainly unsound. The main line 5. d4 and 5. Nc3, the modern engine choice as well as that of Laurie Alexander, are both slightly dodgy but worth a punt in blitz games.
Laurie Alexander, whoever he was (and I haven't got much further), was clearly a man ahead of his time.
On move 19, Stockfish 12 replaces Aitken's ! with a ?, claiming that 19... Qg5+ was winning for Black. He seemed to miss a lot of tactics in his annotations.
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Re: Who was L. Alexander?
I seem to remember Topalov playing it against Kramnik
"Do you play chess?"
"Yes, but I prefer a game with a better chance of cheating."
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"Yes, but I prefer a game with a better chance of cheating."
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